ISLAMABAD: A special jet has arrived in Pakistan from Turkey to help eliminate the menace of locusts that have invaded crops in various parts of the country, posing a serious threat to food security and livelihoods, ARY News reported.
A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) C-130 plane brought the jet for aerial spraying on the swarms of locusts.
The special piper jet will be assembled and used to spray pesticides to kill the locusts in the affected areas.
The jet has been acquired from Turkey on a six-month lease.
Read More: Ministry of food security rejects Sindh’s insinuations on locust swarms
It merits mentioning that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in a report released in April warned of serious food security crisis this year in Pakistan and several other regional countries due to locust invasions.
“In Pakistan, 38 per cent of the area (60pc in Balochistan, 25pc in Sindh and 15pc in Punjab) are breeding grounds for the desert locust, whereas the entire country is under the threat of invasion if the desert locust is not contained in the breeding regions,” the report titled “Desert locust situation in Pakistan” said.
Read More: Locusts’ swarms attack crops in suburban areas of Karachi
